I was recently given a computer by my brother after it died on him. It doesn't power on so I replace the Power Supply. It now powers on but I don't see the BIOS. So I replace the motherboard and CPU and it does the same thing, powers on but no BIOS. I look at my power supply again and notice I have these extra 4 pins next to the 20 pin power source. So I buy an adapter to convert the 24 pins to a 20 pin motherboard. It still does the same thing. I have a computer with similar memory and tried to replace that but that didn't work.

Is there something I am missing? Does anyone have any ideas?

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The 24pin power connector on a 20pin motherboard doesn't matter so much. My guess is that the BIOS was set for a different video method, such as if you're trying to use the onboard video now, it may have been set up to use a graphics card, or vice versa.

I would try resetting the CMOS by unplugging the connector to the power supply and pulling out the motherboard battery. Wait at least 15 seconds before putting it all back together and see if that helps.

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The 24 pin main power connector in a 20 pin motherboard shouldn't be a problem, it is keyed to fit correctly, the only problem is if there is something on the motherboard close enough to the 20 pin connector to physically prevent you from plugging it in.

The thing you should look for is a 4 pin, 2x2 connector that has 2 yellow and 2 black wires out of it. That is the main CPU power connector, been around since the Pentium 4. That plugs into a 2x2 connector near the CPU. Without that there's no power going to the CPU.

Of course this assumes it's a power problem.

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"Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh." - The Doctor

The new motherboard doesn't have on board video but I'll try the battery.

The connector for the CPU is plugged in.

CPU, Fans, and Power supply all turn on. I can't eject the DVD tray and it doesn't seem like the HDD is on if that helps.

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The new motherboard doesn't have on board video but I'll try the battery.

The connector for the CPU is plugged in.

CPU, Fans, and Power supply all turn on. I can't eject the DVD tray and it doesn't seem like the HDD is on if that helps.

Try installing a GPU in the 1st PCI slot if you have an old pci card available. I get this problem occasionally when taking part exchanges. As long as I can get video & into the bios, that's half the battle won.

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Did you remove any posts that are not being used for the motherboard? I had one do that because of a short. make sure your HD and CDrom cables are red stripe to terminal 1. Will the Motherboard post when not in the case?

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Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons...
And no good credit hound!

....I can't eject the DVD tray and it doesn't seem like the HDD is on if that helps.

It's a simple thing but make sure that the IDE cable (I'm assuming PATA) is correctly oriented on the MB and drives (stripe toward the power connector on the drive/s). If you get the cable reversed the drives won't power up and the system won't POST.

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"Gentlemen, there are only two types of naval vessels..........Submarines, and Targets" -- U.S. Navy Submarine SONAR Instructor.

What did you transfer to the new MB?

RAM could be a problem. Its very early in the post check. When troubleshooting things like this, take as much as you can out of the equation. Pull all of your cards and IDE connections. Power on. If it work, then start ading things back one at a time. If it doesn't work with just MB and RAM and video, then its one of those.

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Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station. - Grand Moff Tarkin

The new motherboard doesn't have on board video but I'll try the battery.

The connector for the CPU is plugged in.

CPU, Fans, and Power supply all turn on. I can't eject the DVD tray and it doesn't seem like the HDD is on if that helps.

Your latest remark would suggest that you have inserted one of the IDE cables the wrong way into one (or both) of the drives (or on the motherboard). I've had that problem myself once in a while when using an IDE cable without a notch on it. System won't boot if the cable is inserted wrong.

Regards,
John.

Perhaps a dumb question but, do you have a working keyboard attached? Most systems halt on key board errors.

Secondly, was the rig oc'd? Reset the bios with a 3 pin connector (you move it from the 2 pins it's on to the next pin and it clears the bios. Move it back after you do it). You may need to find the mb manual online to show you which one that does it.

Hope that's another piece of the puzzle to eliminate for you...

Generally - when troubleshooting these type of issues.

You have ready:
* A known good power supply (of the correct type/power rating)
* A known good video card
* A known good keyboard
* Known good RAM (of the correct type)
* Known good speaker
* In some cases due to the age of the MB CPU and analog monitor

The bottom line is if you plug in the MB and CPU into the "known items," you should be able to get into the BIOS or hear the BEEP Codes that will tell you what is wrong.

IF it is a BIOS Failure, that is a bit different. The First Step would be to search for the manual for the MB and then unplug the power supply, pull the battery and move the "jumper" to the reset postion. You need to leave the jumper in place long enough to insure that the capicator bleeds off to return the motherboard to the factory state.

Then you replace the battery and power connector(s) and start the machine. That should allow you into the BIOS.

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I've tried everything listed and nothing. I do get lights on my keyboard as well.

Since I replaced everything but the memory, I guess I'll get that too. Even if the memory is the issue, should I not see something at least? I don't see anything on the screen.

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If the RAM is bad / not compatible, it will just black screen.

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Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station. - Grand Moff Tarkin

I was recently given a computer by my brother after it died on him. It doesn't power on so I replace the Power Supply. It now powers on but I don't see the BIOS. So I replace the motherboard and CPU and it does the same thing, powers on but no BIOS. I look at my power supply again and notice I have these extra 4 pins next to the 20 pin power source. So I buy an adapter to convert the 24 pins to a 20 pin motherboard. It still does the same thing. I have a computer with similar memory and tried to replace that but that didn't work.

Is there something I am missing? Does anyone have any ideas?

I apologize if this sounds like a misguided answer, but --

-- is the monitor ok?

Seems like you completely built a whole new machine...

Adding: Do you get any beeps when you attempt to power up? If so, how many?

Yes monitor is fine. I don't get any beeps, with or without RAM.

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Yes monitor is fine. I don't get any beeps, with or without RAM.

Sounds like that's the prob then. No (good) ram, no boot...You should get 1 beep at a normal startup.

I have another system with the exact same RAM and put it in this MB and it's the same problem. I'm at a total loss here.

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OK, you have a new mobo. Are all the jumpers etc. as per the install manual? Is the board setup correctly? That's the only thing I can think of, aside from an RMA on this new board.

[edit: please tell us you had all the power unplugged from the box when you installed the board...please]

@Dissident: Yes, the board is setup correctly and jumpers in correct place. I tried the bare minimal (Power, CPU, RAM, Video card) with the same result. As to your edit, I removed the PSU before I placed the MB in the case.

My brother has a video card so I'll give that one a try and take it from there. Thanks to everyone so far and if I have more problems, I'll post 'em.

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Do you get any beeps if you try to boot without any RAM installed at all?
On all of my Asus mobos, if the RAM is causing the no boot problem, but everything else is working OK, I will get the post beeps if I take all the RAM out and try to boot. This usually means that the RAM or RAM related bios settings are to fault.
No beeps when RAM is installed, but beeps when no RAM is installed usually indicates that the CPU is functioning and the bios is starting, but having a problem initializing the RAM. If you get no beeps even without RAM installed, then you may have other problems.....

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."